Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Ecuador also includes the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 1,000 kilometers (621 mi) west of the mainland. The country's capital is Quito, but its largest city is Guayaquil.
The territories of modern-day Ecuador were once home to a variety of indigenous peoples that were gradually incorporated into the Inca Empire during the 15th century. The territory was colonized by Spanish Empire during the 16th century, achieving independence in 1820 as part of Gran Colombia, from which it emerged as a sovereign state in 1830. The legacy of both empires is reflected in Ecuador's ethnically diverse population, with most of its 17.8 million people being mestizos, followed by large minorities of Europeans, Native American, African, and Asian descendants. Spanish is the official language spoken by a majority of the population, although 13 native languages are also recognized, including Quechua and Shuar.
One of 17 megadiverse countries in the world, Ecuador hosts many endemic plants and animals, such as those of the Galápagos Islands. In recognition of its unique ecological heritage, the new constitution of 2008 is the first in the world to recognize legally enforceable rights of nature. (Full article...)
Yasuní National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Yasuní) is a protected area comprising roughly 10,000 km2 (3,900 sq mi) between the Napo and Curaray Rivers in Pastaza and Orellana Provinces within Amazonian Ecuador. The national park lies within the Napo moist forests ecoregion and is primarily rain forest. The park is about 250 km (160 mi) from Quito and was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve along with the adjacent Waorani Ethnic Reserve in 1989. It is within the ancestral territory of the Huaorani indigenous people. Yasuní is also home to two uncontacted indigenous tribes, the Tagaeri and the Taromenane. Many indigenous people use the riverways within the park as a main mode of travel. Several waterways in the area are tributaries that lead into the Amazon River, including blackwater rivers high in tannins boasting vastly different floral composition than the main riverways. The spine-covered palm, Bactrisriparia, and aquatic plant Montrichardia linifera typically line the edges of these slow moving rivers, often referred to as Igapós.
The park contains an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of crude oil – 40 percent of Ecuador's reserves. Plans to extract this oil were met with resistance from Indigenous people, and criticised by scientists. In 2007, president Rafael Correa launched the Yasuní-ITT Initiative in an effort to protect the park's natural resources. The initiative promised to protect the park's biodiversity in exchange for compensation from the international community, but the effort did not raise enough money. Oil extraction began in 2016 and was expanded in 2019. (Full article...)
Image 2Map of the former Gran Colombia in 1824 (named in its time as Colombia), the Gran Colombia covered all the colored region. (from History of Ecuador)
Image 10A satellite map of chlorophyll and phytoplankton concentration (top) paired with a map of oceanic surface temperatures at the same time (bottom). The thriving populations represented by green and yellow in the upper map correlate to areas of higher surface temperatures represented by yellow in the lower map (2 March 2009). (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 12Satellite maps of the concentration of chlorophyll (representing abundance of phytoplankton) during El Niño (top) and La Niña (bottom). The color scale goes from blue at the lowest concentrations to red at the highest. Currents that normally fertilize phytoplankton reverse during El Niño, resulting in barren oceans. The same currents are strengthened by La Niña, resulting in an explosion of ocean life. (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 13General Antonio José de Sucre, Commander In Chief, División del Sur. (from History of Ecuador)
Image 41Former President Rafael Correa (left) attends President-elect Lenín Moreno's (middle) "changing of the guard" ceremony. The two PAIS leaders were considered close allies before Moreno's "de-Correaization" efforts started after he assumed the presidency. (from History of Ecuador)
Image 49Alpaca Scarf´s at the Otavalo Artisan Market. (from Culture of Ecuador)
Image 50A manuscript map of the islands from the charts drafted by James Colnett of the British Royal Navy in 1793, adding additional names (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 53A Galápagos tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra) on Santa Cruz. C. nigra is the largest living species of tortoise, hunted to near extinction during the islands' whaling era. (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 57North Seymour Island with Daphne Island in the distance (from Galápagos Islands)
Image 58The banana boom of the mid-20th century boosted the economy of Guayaquil, where office buildings like these were built. (from History of Ecuador)
... that in February 2023, Ecuadorian entrepreneur Omar Menéndez was elected the mayor of his canton the day after his assassination?
... that Julian Assange's lawyer argued that the rules set by the Ecuadorian embassy requiring Assange to take care of his pet cat Michi were "denigrating"?
... that San Rafael Falls, once Ecuador's largest waterfall, was swallowed by a sinkhole in February 2020 and no longer exists?
... that the fastest-growing cities, receiving the least media attention, Esmeraldas, Manta, Salinas, and Machala all being port cities have doubled their growth, and have the most stable economies in the country, leaving Nueva Loja, the only inland city to have equalled that growth?
... that Quito (the capital of Ecuador) has the most extensive colonial district of Latin America?
... that Ecuador is the only place in the world where you can actually visualize that you are standing on the northern hemisphere as well as on the southern hemisphere?
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